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“The guys that they brought in to play in this defense and bring it to where we need to be, I think they did a good job in that.”

Now in his fourth season, Misi is suddenly in a strange spot: Along with reserve Austin Spitler, he’s the longest-tenured Dolphins linebacker.

Karlos Dansby and Kevin Burnett commanded most of the attention in recent years, but Misi is now a leader out of necessity. Dansby and Burnett are gone, cut after the Dolphins signed Dannell Ellerbe and Philip Wheeler as free agents.

Misi said “everybody” was shocked by the release of two of the defense’s more dependable — and outspoken — players, but acknowledged it’s the nature of the NFL.

Besides, Misi has more pressing concerns: His own future with the team is far from certain. He’s entering the final year of his rookie deal, and said Tuesday that the Dolphins’ front office has not yet approached him about an extension.

When asked if his contract situation is on his mind, Misi said with a smile: “Yeah, you could say that.”

Entering the second year in Kevin Coyle’s 4-3 defense, Misi said he’s more comfortable playing strong-side linebacker than he was in 2012, when he had 3 1/2 sacks and a career-high 65 tackles.

Misi, who played on the line in passing situations and occasionally blitzed from outside linebacker in base alignments last season, wants to get to the quarterback even more in 2013. His goal for sacks is eight — which would nearly double his career total.

He also wants to create more turnovers, which coach Joe Philbin has listed as a top priority for the defense. Misi forced three fumbles last season but couldn’t recover any of them.

Still, Pro Football Focus ranked Misi as the league’s 10th-best outside 4-3 linebacker last season, giving him particularly strong marks against the run. He was flagged for a penalty just once all season.

“Your coaches know what they want from you, and it just pushes you that much harder to get to that point,” Misi said. “I feel like I’m getting pushed a little bit, and I like it.”

• Mike Wallace has taken exception to the media coverage of his comments about the Pittsburgh Steelers, writing on Twitter that, “to all the people who think I take shots at them it is totally misleading.”

Wallace also wrote: “I want it to be known that I have nothing but love and respect for everybody in the Pittsburgh Steelers [organization.] [T]hat is a A1 organization over there ... Those guys are my brothers for life beyond football.”

Wallace’s remarks come days after he made a series of statements that some perceived as digs at his previous city. He told Miami reporters that he has decided to buy a home in South Florida after living in six-month rentals in Western Pennsylvania.

Wallace also contrasted the vibe in the Dolphins’ locker room with that in Pittsburgh, saying: “Everybody has a college mentality around here. It’s a lot different than where I came from. Everybody’s hungry. Everybody wants to get better, get to where we need to be — that’s a winning record.”

• The Dolphins have signed Courtney Gardner, a rookie wide receiver cut this month by the Chargers. To make room for Gardner, Miami waived Terrell Sinkfield.

Gardner, 6-4 and 215 pounds, has a checkered past. He couldn’t qualify academically for Division I football, but was a junior college All-American at Sierra College. He has been arrested twice in Nevada in the past three years.

• More than a dozen Dolphins players hosted 60 high-achieving students from Benjamin Franklin K-8 Center for an end-of-year celebration at Action Town in Hialeah.

Having met certain criteria, including good attendance, good academic performance and good behavior, the students were invited to play Laser Tag, miniature golf and basketball with Dolphins players.

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Re Fabiola Santiago’s Dec. 14 column, “The ethics of Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and his lobbyist sons stink,” about my sons and my ethics: First, my son Carlos J. (C.J.) does not lobby Miami-Dade County government. He is a lawyer who was working in the government legal affairs field before I was elected mayor in 2011.

Yet he has not been active in any county business. Santiago initially included him as an active lobbyist in the online version of her column, then when advised that he is listed as “not active lobbyist” — as posted on the county website — she did not include the date of Jan. 27, 2011 that is listed as the last “inactive.”